Sabres in Montreal for division battle

The Buffalo Sabres travel across the border to take on the Montreal Canadiens in the first of five meetings this year. With only seven games played in the young season, the Sabres find themselves in last place in the Northeast Division and 9th in the Eastern Conference, but with a solid victory over the Bruins Thursday night, the team could be back on the right track.

With Thomas Vanek’s five point performance and Ryan Millers 38 saves, the Sabres snapped their four game losing streak at the Fleet Center in Boston en route to a 7-4 triumph.

Buffalo’s top line of Vanek, Pominville, and Hodgson continue to light up the scoreboard and all three find themselves among the league leaders in their respective categories. Vanek is first in the league in points and Pominville is fouth, while in goals it’s Vanek in second, Pominville tied for third, ad Hodgson tied for fourth.

While the Buffalo Sabres ended their losing steak with an impressive victory,the Montreal Canadiens ended their four game winning streak with a dissappointing loss.

Wednesday night the Canadiens visited the Ottawa Senators and were handed a 5-1 defeat. Coach Michel Therrien will use the Bell Centre’s 21,000 fans to help his team get back in the win column.

The two teams have been getting a good portion of their scoring from very different areas of their teams. The Sabres have been relying on their first line for a majority of their scoring, but the Canadiens look for defensemen Andrei Markov and Raphael Diaz to continue their hot hand.

The two blue liners each have eight points in Montreal’s six games played. The Canadiens are also looking for one of their top defensemen P.K. Subban to play in his first game of the season. Subban missed the beginning of season while waiting for a new contract.

The Montreal Canadiens are looking for a much better season than last year where they finished last in the Eastern Conference and lost the season series to Buffalo with only a single victory in the six meetings.

The two teams will meet twice this week. Saturday’s game which will be covered by MSG at 2 p.m.